A SawyerKate flashforward
by HorseshoeMan
Summary: This is a concise story, post rescue. Chapter 4 added
1. Chapter 1

Kate smiles as she stands over a kitchen counter drying a dinner plate. She gently puts the plate down on the counter and runs her hands through her hair. She looks down at her stomach and slowly rubs the unborn child growing in her stomach. At that moment the kitchen door bursts open.

"Hey, James," Kate says.

Sawyer throws a non-descript black sports bag onto the kitchen table.

"Is everything OK?" Kate asks. Again she gets no response from Sawyer. "What's wrong?"

"Look in the bag," Sawyer says blandly never once looking at Kate.

Kate looks at Sawyer frowning. She unzips the bag and looks in.

"Where did this come from? How much is in here? James?"

"There's $100,000 in there," Sawyer says, "It's for you and the kid."

"What's going on?"

"Take it and go. Running's what you do isn't it."

"I'm not running from you, James. I love you and I'm having our child," Kate says, her voice breaking and tears welling in her eyes.

"You know how I got this Kate? Her name's Kate too. Funny, huh? She loved me too, freckles, or said she did. She loved me enough to screw me and give me all her money, anyway."

"You couldn't…"

"It's who I am, sweetness, I cheat people, you run, the world turns."

"James," Kate began.

"My name's Sawyer."


	2. Chapter 2

**10 days ago**

Sawyer waited in line impatiently when his cell phone rang. His scowl of frustration was quickly replaced by a smile.

"Hey, darlin'" he drawled into his phone. "What's up?"

"I was expecting you home 20 minutes ago," Kate said amiably on the other end of the line. "The dinner's gonna spoil."

"A married man can still buy beer can't he?"

"I know you're only drinking cos I can't."

"Them's the breaks freckles, I've got OJ for you."

"How generous of you."

"That's the kinda guy I am, what can I say?"

"See you later. I love you James."

"Yeah, I know, you too."

Sawyer closed the cell phone and slipped it into his pocket. Now at the front of the line he handed his money to the Asian man behind the counter.

"Take a tip from me," the clerk said, smiling. "Get some candy for your wife. It will keep her happy, you know what I mean."

"Thanks, but no thanks, Apu," Sawyer said without a smile.

When he left the store, Sawyer noticed that there was a man standing next to his car. The stranger struck Sawyer as familiar but he couldn't immediately place him.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'll come to that shortly Mr Ford, first I need you to get in the car with me."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because this is not a conversation that should be public, Mr Ford or is that Mr Sawyer. We need to go for a drive."

Minutes later, Sawyer asked the passenger in his SUV "Where are we going?"

"First I will answer the first question you asked." The passenger pointed at the junction ahead. "Its right here. My name is Richard Alpert. I was born and raised on a island that you are familiar with. The island on which you met your wife and the island on which you spent approximately ninety days. Now I need to ask you to do something for me and my people."

"Well golly, all you had to do was ask. Do you want me to sign Jacobs birthday card?" Sawyer sneered. "Come on, Ricky, give me one good reason I shouldn't stop this car and kick your ass right now?"

"Straight ahead here, James. He said you'd need a more, let's say tangible, reason to cooperate. OK, the police in Sydney are looking for an American man who killed an innocent shrimp truck owner in cold blood. I have information that I'm sure would interest them."

"Nice try, Bubs, but the Aussie police don't want to track me down. One Yank killing another don't interest them. They see me as a waste of resources."

"You may be right, you may be wrong but I do know that the FBI are presently looking for a woman by the name of Kate Austen who killed her father among other felonies. I am happy for them to keep looking in vain. All I ask is that you meet me in the same place I met you today at the same time tomorrow. Now, I believe your marital home is on the left just up here."

Sawyer pulled up outside his home in silence staring out at the road ahead. Alpert opened the passenger side door and walked down the road without once looking back.


	3. Chapter 3

**9 days ago**

"You were right, Ben," Alpert said blandly. "I waited for forty five minutes and he didn't show up."

Ben removed his glasses and glared at Alpert. "You told me we needed to listen to him. You said and I quote 'He wants Ford, so it's up to him to call the shots.'"

"I'll find Ford tomorrow and speak to him again."

"No, Richard, you won't." Ben said. "We have tried it his way. Now I'll get the job done my way. Ford needs to know what we are capable of."

"He said you can't…"

Ben swiftly cut off the other man, "Don't tell me what I can't do."

**7 days ago**

Sawyer stood on his back porch and drew on a cigarette. The day was warm enough that he didn't need to wear a shirt, he just wear blue jeans and his black workboots. He could see the teenage girl who lived in the house next door staring at him. He smiled at her, "Nice day for it, darling."

The girl's face flushed crimson and she rushed back into her house. Sawyer grinned and shrugged casually. He threw his cigarette down onto the floor and crushed it under his boot. As he turned to face the house he noticed a folded piece of lavender paper wedged in the door. Sawyer retrieved the paper and opened it.

_Same place Same time Tomorrow_

_Listen to Claire_

_Alpert_

There was a shout from inside the house. "James, come see this."

Sawyer slipped the paper into his pocket and followed his wife's call. As he entered the house he saw his wife perched on the edge of the couch watching the TV.

"What's up, Kate. Is it…" Sawyer started.

"Shhh!"

Saywer picked up the end of a news report on the TV. An improbably beautiful reporter was outside a fried chicken restaurant.

"The mother, a Claire Littleton screamed as apparently her baby was taken as she was in line with her friend, a man by the name of Hugo Reyes. She was heard to say according to one eye witness. "Someone needs to do something to get my baby back."

"Those bastards," Sawyer muttered under his breath. He unconsciously felt the paper in his pocket.

"Why are they doing this?" Kate asked. "I thought it was over."

"Yeah," Sawyer said, "Me too."


	4. Chapter 4

**6 Days ago**

Alpert and Sawyer got out of Alpert's car and looked at the building where they had stopped. It looked like it used to be some sort of hardware store but the sign above the shop had long since faded to illegibility. The windows were boarded up and graffiti covered the boards. Alpert took a key from his pocket and inserted it into a padlock on the dishevelled door that led inside. He swung the door opened and looked at Sawyer who stood on the pavement.

"Please, follow me." Alpert said.

"Nice place you got here." Sawyer said, sardonically. "Do you want me to wipe my feet before I come in?"

"That won't be necessary." Alpert replied.

The interior of the building was in as poor a state of repair as the storefront. The floor appeared to be covered in a layer of dust at least an inch thick and even when Alpert switched on the fluorescent light, the dust kept the room seeming gloomy. There were shelves lining the floor bur predictability they were empty and dirty.

"I think you need to upgrade your evil hideout, Blofeld, if your ever gonna get that shark tank."

Alpert led Sawyer through the room to the back of the store. At the back was a door that had presumably been the manager's office back when the store had been a neighbourhood business. Alpert knocked softly twice and then turned to Sawyer.

"Please go in."

"Am I in trouble with the boss?"

A familiar voice answered from the other side of the door. "No, James, we just need to change your job description."

"Son of a bitch," Sawyer said.

The room Sawyer entered was small and clean in comparison with the large and murky atmosphere outside. Sawyer noticed that there was an electronic air purifier running making a soft purring noise in the corner. Sat behind what was presumably the manager's desk was Benjamin Linus. In his arms he cradled a baby that was also familiar to Sawyer.

"Hello, James. I would appreciate if you didn't use language like that in front of a child," Ben said.

"If you hurt that kid I swear I'll…"

"What? Kill me? We've no intention of hurting Aaron. He will be returned to his mother today. He's only here to get you here."

"Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Because it's the truth and because you're not important enough to lie to," Ben said dismissively. "By the way, James, you can forget about that gun you believe you have on you."

Alpert stepped out from behind Sawyer and laid a gun on Ben's desk. Sawyer reached behind him feeling for the weapon he had placed in his jeans earlier.

"Son of a bitch," Sawyer cursed softly.

"I think I've proved my point," Ben said. "You have to understand James, when you got off the island, you all thought you were free. Freedom is all relative. On the island, you had freedom only as far as we let you have freedom. Here too, you are only as free as we allow you to be. We have left you alone because we didn't need you, but we need you now."

"Need me for what?" Sawyer asked.

"It is not up to me to tell you. I am here to give you your instructions. I expect you in a week's time to have left your wife. I expect you to have told her nothing of this meeting or why you are leaving her. I also expect you to tell no one else of meeting me or my friend Richard."

"Why shou…"

"Why should you leave your wife? You'll leave her because you know of what we are capable. Do you know how easy it is to miscarry at you wife's stage of pregnancy, James? Or for a woman to die giving birth?"

"You evil bas…"

"No James, I'm not evil. There is more at stake than one child and one mother. Anyway Kate's better of without you, James. Do you really think you can be an honest husband and father? You don't have it in you. At least this way it'll be a clean break. I'll leave the rest to you. You've all ways been good at breaking hearts haven't you, _Sawyer._"


End file.
